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Flyers face Canadiens in second half of back-to-backs

Saturday, 02.16.2013 / 10:41 AM

Philadelphia Flyers (6-8-1--13pts)

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Montreal Canadiens (8-4-1--17pts)

TV: CSN - RADIO: 97.5 The Fanatic

1. LATELY THE TEAMS...

Tonight's game is the second half of games on back-to-back nights for the Flyers, who dropped a 5-3 decision at New Jersey last night… The Canadiens come into tonight's game with two full days of rest and riding a two-game winning streak, both of which came past regulation play… Tonight is also the fourth game in the Flyers' season-high six-game road trip - they are 1-2-0 thus far… This is the fifth set of back-to-back games for the Flyers - they are 1-4 in the first game and 2-2 in the second, having won the last two in-a-row.

2. HEAD TO HEAD

This is the first of three meetings this season against the Canadiens and first of two games at Montreal… Last year, the Flyers won the season-series going 3-1-0 against Montreal, winning the final three meetings of the year… The Flyers have won six of their last seven games against the Canadiens, however Montreal is one of two teams in the NHL in which the Flyers have an overall losing record against at 66-75-30-4 in 175 games.

3. THIS & THAT

The Canadiens have scored first in 10 of their 15 games this season, going 7-2-1 when doing so… Montreal has had five of their last six games decided by one goal; overall they are 5-2-1 in one-goal games… Tomas Plekanec leads the Canadiens in goals (6) and points (11)… The Flyers have four players that lead the team in scoring with 10 points: Matt Read (6g-4a) and Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek & Brayden Schenn (3g-7a)… As a team, the Flyers rank 4th among NHL teams with 221 blocks on the season and lead in the league with 390 total hits… The Flyers have killed 29 of their last 31 shorthanded situations (93.5 percent).

Schenn posted an assist in last night's loss at New Jersey giving him points in six of his last eight games… In that span, Schenn has averaged a point-per-game with eight points (3g-5a) to climb for a tie at top of the Flyers scoring lead with 10 points (3g-7a). Schenn has played just two games against the Canadiens in his career, going scoreless in both contests.

5. Player to watch CANADIENS: (D) P.K. Subban - #76

Since appearing in the line-up for the Canadiens, Subban has recorded points in five of seven games for a total of six points (3g-3a)… The 23-year-old defenseman has averaged 19:44 of ice-time so far this season, including 4:46 of power-play TOI, which ranks second on the team… In his career, Subban has seven points (1g-6a) in 10 regular season games against the Flyers.

QUOTABLE

"We played a pretty good game, but at the end of the day it's 3-3 going into the third and we have to find a way to win… We have to learn from this and get ready for tomorrow."

Carey Price has helped the Montreal Canadiens move past their recent losing streak, but he hasn't had much success against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Canadiens goaltender, however, may be catching the road-weary Flyers at the right time.

Price will try to build on one of his best performances of the season and lead Montreal to a third straight victory Saturday night against the Flyers.

After winning six of eight to open the season, Montreal (8-4-1) dropped three straight before responding with consecutive victories on its two-game road swing in Florida.

Price made 21 saves in a 4-3 shootout win over Tampa Bay on Tuesday and turned away 26 shots in a 1-0 overtime victory against Florida on Thursday.

"He's excellent," coach Michel Therrien said. "We lost a little bit of momentum on two shifts and that's when you need your goalie and Carey was phenomenal."

Excluding a 6-0 loss to Toronto last Saturday, Price has surrendered three goals or fewer in his other 10 starts, yielding two or less seven times. He ranks among the league leaders with a 2.06 goals-against average.

Price, though, has lost five of his last six starts against Philadelphia with a 3.38 GAA.

The Flyers (6-8-1), though, haven't exactly been lighting things up offensively lately, ranking near the bottom of the NHL with 2.46 goals per game.

Philadelphia went 3-0-1 on a recent homestand but has lost two of the first three games on its season-high six-game trip, including Friday's 5-3 defeat to New Jersey. The Flyers lost despite scoring three first-period goals and outshooting the Devils 28-19.

"I mean guys were skating hard today," said captain Claude Giroux, who had two assists. "We got a 3-1 lead, we have to find a way to get it done. We have to learn from this."

Matt Read leads the Flyers with six goals, scoring his third in five games Friday.

Philadelphia could be without top defenseman Kimmo Timonen after he left Friday's contest in the third period with a lower-body injury.

The Flyers have been outscored 31-21 in losing seven of nine on the road, while the Canadiens have dropped two straight at home after a five-game win streak at the Bell Centre.

Montreal has offensive issues of its own, scoring one goal or none in three of its past five games.

Rene Bourque scored 2:10 into overtime Thursday, the only goal the Canadiens could muster on 32 shots.

The team's power play hasn't been much help recently, converting 1 of 14 opportunities over the past three games.

Philadelphia's Ilya Bryzgalov has allowed 10 goals in his last three starts and could give way to Brian Boucher with games on back-to-back nights. Boucher made his only appearance this season in relief at Toronto on Monday, yielding one goal on 10 shots.

The Flyers have won three straight and six of seven against the Canadiens.

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